pastrygirl

Ouch, so disappointing I think humidity does play a role, especially when the room is on the warm side. 65F and humid might be ok, 70 and dry can still work, but 70 and humid is much more challenging.

To confuse you further, corn starch is called corn flour in some places. Corn starch is pretty common in shortbread recipes, since it has no gluten it makes a more tender, crumbly cookie.

I think that counts as wine if you're in prison 🙃

In this scenario, how high is your melter set? I think melters heat too slowly/gently. You're going to be standing there stirring for a looong time.

Though if it's just syrup for italian meringue that's only 250F. I had an issue once making pate de fruits or caramel or something really hot and long-cooked. How big is the copper pot? I'm guessing the spout is an important feature? Maybe something here: https://www.magneticcooky.com/saucepans-with-pour-spout-induction-ready/

Flambé first then add the cream. I don’t think the brandy would light after being diluted with cream.

I dont know, but I would make sure your induction burner can handle the high temps of candy making. Sometimes they automatically shut off above a certain temp.

Less than half a gram of fat per serving can be considered fat free because it rounds down to zero.

Have you tried pre-coating them? It may help to put a little tempered chocolate on your hands then give each piece a quick roll to coat with a thin layer.

Absolutely! 😂 Definitely a gray area because it's custard, but one could convince themself that the eggs were cooked past pasteurization and if you left a block of cream cheese out overnight it would not be off by morning. She could brulee the top to kill any surface bacteria if that helps with peace of mind. I'd probably serve it with a caveat so anyone with a delicate system can opt out.

Do you want to maintain the gooey marshmallow texture or just the flavor? I've torched white chocolate to simulate marshmallow, also toasted marshmallows then melted them in cream.

I have the Selmi full of 60% dark, which is what I use the most of, and am trying to keep it free of allergens other than milk. I don't do any hand dipping, I make molded bars & bonbons plus some slabbed truffles that are dusted in cocoa powder. I still use melters for milk chocolate or if I'm using certain allergens. I don't think my process has changed a whole lot, but I feel like it's sped up with less time spent tending to chocolate and maintaining temper. My 24 kg melter heats unevenly, takes hours to melt that much chocolate, and has to be frequently stirred and re-warmed if I'm shelling and dumping molds. My kitchen gets pretty cold in the winter, which I like because chocolate crystallizes quickly but it's also a constant struggle. I had been a little concerned that the Color would be too small, with only 12 kg capacity but so far it has kept up. I probably tempered 100 kg of chocolate with it last month? I have room on my marble slab for 4 frames of truffles (using 6 kg tempered choc), if I re-fill the Selmi it's melted and ready to temper by the time those are crystallized and cut. A lot of the little movements add up, not having to constantly switch between ladle and scraper, not pausing to bang the bubbles out of each mold by hand ... Now I need to find the right height chair so I can sit and lean against the vibration table for a nice back rub at the end of the day 🤪

I got the Color EX, and yes, of course! Chocolate melts quickly, tempering only takes a few minutes and I'm happy to have the vibration table. It beeps when it's ready and makes cute little compressor sighs. I'm also enjoying the volumetric dosing, it's helping me be neater. On the other hand, it does put out some heat and I haven't tried to clean the screw yet.

I'm curious how sustainable pistachios are - almonds take a lot of water, is that true for all nuts? But based on price alone, I have to laugh at the idea of substituting pistachios for just about anything else 🤑

praline gianduja?

Mine does! 😂 Like so much with chocolate, gotta adjust the pressure juuuuust right. Made these yesterday:

Yes, the idea is to let people pick and choose their favorites. I do have a couple of boxed assortments in there that look fine, just the exposed ones look bad. It's a (relatively) cheap refrigerated bakery case, I figured I could make it work one way or another but now I'm not sure what that way is. The special chocolate cases are 3x the price, like all the special chocolate things 😜 Edited to add: current weather is reasonably dry, 72F & 40% humidity in the kitchen, so it shouldn't be because of gross Seattle weather ... and my reach-in fridge is only about 60% humidity, so I think I'll be calling customer service tomorrow to troubleshoot

Any updates on good AW meters? I feel like I need one if I'm going to go full speed on bonbons. @Jim D. does yours need to be plugged into a PC, or is it self contained? I have a Mac, so the ones requiring a PC won't work for me.

I recently got a refrigerated display case, and the bonbons look so pretty all lined up, oh boy! But am having issues with humidity, everything is kind of sticky. I put my humidity gauge in there and it hasn't gone below 70% even after adding humidity absorbers. I also noticed that more droplets are forming on bonbons with less cocoa butter decoration - for example, on this one, the green is still shiny and dry but the plain chocolate is not. Does this suggest a formulation issue rather than humidity alone, or some combo? Any ideas/tips? If water is being drawn through the non-decorated parts of the shell, what can I do beyond way heavier CB decoration? I can't determine if the 'anti-fog' switch helps or hinders, should less air movement be better or worse for chocolate? This does not happen with bonbons kept in my regular fridge in ziplock containers ...

I don't think a guitar would do well with nuts, you want a uniform softer consistency or wires will break. Are your centers mostly ganache, caramel, or fondant? Some people like silicone molds. If only a few centers have nuts, a guitar may still be worth it. You could also consider changing the nut flavors to something smoother and easier to cut then garnishing with nuts on top to keep the crunch factor.

A good instant coffee would be far easier to add. I like Medaglia d’ Oro.

My Spanglish is rusty but I agree - palmito cut like spaghetti

I've been very happy with all of the molds I've bought from chocolat-chocolat.com

You have to be a business with a tax ID number. Here in WA I get my reseller permit from the Dept of Revenue. If there's something you're desperate for that only they have, I may be able to help you out, I order from them several times a year.

I've used a different wheel machine briefly at a side gig. The constant motion can over-crystallize the chocolate quickly and make it thicken and build up on the wheel, requiring attention. But in truth there's always going to be some babysitting. We were molding with it and it didn't have a ton of room to dump the molds back in, but that is not a problem with the TF 20, as the full hotel pan size gives plenty of room. Finally, I may be the only person in the world with this quirk and it won't apply to you, but I found the vertical spinning visually distracting. Spinning on a horizontal plane like a kitchen aid doesn't bother me but vertical does 🤷‍♀️ Perhaps more importantly, understand that the TF 20 is not a continuous or automatic tempering machine, it is really just a melter. Adding the molding wheel will stir the chocolate for you but you still have to seed, adjust temperature and test the chocolate for temper. It really is only meant to create a fountain to pour chocolate into molds which saves time over ladling if you're molding, but you're not. Looking at the website photos again, I realize that I have a TF 20 without a wheel, I picked it up used for an absolute steal. The heating element on the bottom is exposed and there is no insulation in the machine. The 24 kg Mol d' art is sleeker, insulated, and easier to remove the chocolate pan from so I prefer that and only use the TF 20 as a back-up. I started out with one 6 kg melter, then upgraded to a 24 kg melter & EZ temper, recently got a Selmi, at the moment all of those plus the TF 20 have different chocolates for different projects in them. It's a slippery slope 😂